One of the scarcer NASA texts. Clean and tightly bound with especially crisp paper and no names or writing. Other than a few isolated spots of edgewear and a bit of light foxing to outer edge of front cover, it is is excellent condition. Measures 8"x10-1/4" and has 147 pages.According to the preface by Kennedy, the workshop was held as a result of the advent of optical frequencies which opened the possibility for increased capacity and efficiency in communication systems. Progress, however, had been delayed by two problems -- the time required to develop "an adequate technological base" and the emergence of fundamental problems that do not arise at lower frequencies. NASA and MIT thus invited leaders in the field of optical communications to a two-week workshop to assess what knowledge was needed to determine the structure and performance of near-optimum optical systems, the feasibility of implementing such systems with exisiting devices, and the characteristic required of any needed devices yet to be built.